Painted Wings
by Miss Yvonne Hartman
Summary: She could fly, but thinks her wings are only painted on… set in Toxic, Tollie. Tess/Megan


Painted Wings

She could fly, but thinks her wings are only painted on … when Tess first met Oliver… Tollie

Set during Toxic a little character study on young Tess.

I don't own Smallville.

AN: Having Déjà vu? I have given all my works an edit, spit and polish and reposted, so enjoy and please review – Y xx

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Tess Mercer was thinking fast, her mind in a whir, not helped at all by the stiflingly humid air and the overall soreness in her tired body. She gritted her teeth and tried to remember everything she had studied, in a semester that felt like it was lived by someone else. "Megan!" she hissed, not taking her eyes off the purple berry stain on the hand that hung limply a foot away from her face. Her best friend stirred slightly beside her, Tess could tell she was listening. "Megan, what's the name of the plant? Remember, the lecture we had about marine leeches and their relation to elasmobranch hosts because James said… I did the extra research and…" she trailed off, "if that plant really is in the same family as oleander then…" she took a breath, - ignoring the agony in her muscles, the grazes on her legs, the shattering pain in her heart and the voice in her head telling her this could be very risky and very stupid - Tess jumped to her feet and said as loudly as she could, "I know how to save him!"

Their two captors, Marcos and Nathaniel, turned slowly and stared at her for a moment.

"What?" Marcos spoke first, stepping close to her. While tall for her seventeen years, he towered over Tess, making her shrink a little with fear. "What did you say?"

"At Harvard we studied leeches and their medical uses." Tess said, her voice shaky, ignoring Megan's whisper of 'Tess, be careful!' "Leech saliva has an interesting effect in the host's body and if he's been poisoned by what I think he has, then the reaction will neutralise the toxin and coagulate his blood." She took another deep breath, dizzy with terror, keeping one eye on the machine guns that could rip her tiny body to shreds. "It will save him."

Marcos and Nathaniel put their heads together, whispering urgently and gesturing at the unconscious man. Oliver Queen. Tess was sure she had heard that name before, but couldn't place its significance, as she sunk back to her knees beside Megan. The older girl's hands, although bound, reached out to grip tightly to Tess hand.

"Alright." Marcos said eventually, looking at Tess. "But if this doesn't work, if he dies and we lose our chance at getting billions of dollars – you're gonna wish you were never born." He warned in a low voice, as Tess stood again.

She jutted her chin out defiantly, "Don't worry. It will work." She said, and earned a solid backhand across the face that almost threw her to the floor. She blinked away the stars that spiralled in front of her eyes and steadied herself on her feet. She gave Marcos the nastiest glare she could muster, silently wishing him an awful death before she turned, snatched a mug from the shaky fold up table and strode out of the tent, her hands shaking and teeth chattering, the only visual display of the sheer terror she felt.

"What do you need?" Nathaniel asked, falling into step beside her as she walked out of the tent. He was there to guard her, the gun slung over his shoulder to remind her how completely at his mercy she was.

Tess looked around; trying to orientate herself to the bodies of water she had seen before when they made their way up the steep incline to pitch the tent. She started walking in what she hoped was the right direction, keeping her eye out for ponds or puddles. "I need leeches." She refrained from adding a 'duh'. "As many as I can find."

Nathaniel nodded silently and followed her, letting her walk ahead. Tess was glad for the almost solitude. It gave her time to think, to breathe, even though the knot of fear that tied her stomach and lungs into a tight bundle wasn't disappearing. Oliver Queen. Tess licked her chapped lower lip as her heart seemed to skip a beat, thinking about the crazy twist of luck. Tess had only managed a few glances at the guy, but there was something about him, the smooth curve of his lips, his suntanned skin and scarred hands that made her feel like once he was out of danger everything would be ok. Tess had never been a particularly sentimental child, but she couldn't help the feeling that she had known him for a lifetime already.

Then she saw it, a murky pond, the colour of dark beer and covered in drifts of green algae. Nathaniel had fallen behind, lighting a cigarette, watching her from a distance. She knelt at the water's edge, dipping her hands in the cool water with a sigh of relief as a bird cried overhead and in the distance she could see the azure sparkle of the ocean. It was then that she was gripped by a sudden, bright, yet terribly dark idea.

She could run.

She could run now, into the dense green shelter of the trees and plants, get down to the ocean, take the boat and push out to sea. She could escape.

Tess stood up, blind to the three leeches beginning their odd flexing crawl over her thin sneaker, fixated on her ankles. Her heart pounded sharply in her chest. It would be so easy, when Nathaniel's back was turned, her legs already sparking with the adrenaline needed to bolt and get as far away as possible.

Megan.

Tess felt rational thought and something else, shame and guilt, sweep back in slowly. How could she live with herself, if she escaped and left Megan to die? And that man, that poor beautiful man called Oliver. Because her survival would surely mean their end. She looked away from the ocean, angry with herself, and recoiled slightly at the sight of fat leeches hanging on to her. She was running out of time. Quickly she ducked down and plucked them off, dropping the black squiggles into the cup. When she had got all of the leeches she started walking back up the hill, Nathaniel shadowing her again, to their camp where, with shaking hands she set the leeches free on Oliver's suntanned chest. She watched for a moment as the leeches began their work and gently she reached out and rested her hand over his heart, feeling a strange jolt in her body. She might be able to fly, but her wings are only painted on, leaving her bound to the Earth, to him. His heart was beating rapidly against her palm, his body burning with a fever.

"I need water." She said, "a towel." She looked at Marcos, into his cold eyes. "He's too hot. Please."

He gave her a cloth and she dipped it into the jerry can of their precious fresh water, shaking till it was cold enough and pressing it to Oliver's forehead. He moaned something as she quietly worked on bringing down his temperature. She looked back at Megan, who's dark eyes were trained on her. She looked exhausted, terrified and hungry and Tess' heart broke in that instant. She held back the tears though, bending close to Oliver in the guise of listening to his breathing so that no one could see the mist in her eyes. _Get a grip. Don't lose your head._ She told herself sternly. _Just hold on, baby_.

"Give her water." Tess ordered as she straightened up, feeling more confident, forcing herself to stay calm and work through the fear and the guilt. To stay strong for Megan's sake. Nathaniel stepped forward and filled a mug, kneeling beside Megan he held it to her lips with a gentleness Tess hadn't been expecting to see in their current situation. Tess, satisfied that Megan wasn't going to pass out, turned her attention back to Oliver and put her hand over his heart again. She kept it there until his heart rate began to slow, the flicker of his eyes behind their tightly shut lids calming as well. She refreshed the cloth, draped it over his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back. There was nothing to do now but wait.

With shaky legs, seeing that Oliver was sleeping deeply now, Tess sunk down beside Megan and pressed her forehead to her knees. She held herself like that, repeating in her mind over and over, 'I came back… I'm here; I didn't leave them… that must mean something… I came back…"

Had some dark seed just settled inside her? Or had the darkness been there forever? That she, Tess Mercer - the seventeen year old brilliant Harvard girl, with all her good grades and education and 'most-likely-to-succeed' honour – would leave her best friend and a stranger to die in order to save her own skin. She felt sick with herself, like the newly uncovered duality was a poison in her veins. Shy, scared little Tessie now struggling to hold back the vicious, dark eyed girl. Good and Evil battling it out in her stomach.

When she felt her own heart calm down again she sat up and turned to Megan. "Oh Meg." She felt her heart flood with compassion at her friend and gently helped her sit up, brushing her bangs back into order, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, cleaning away the blood at the corner of her lip before she finally loosened the ropes at her wrists and massaged the deep grooves they had cut into her skin.

"I'm so sorry." Tess whispered to her.

"This isn't your fault." Megan whispered back after a long silence. Her face was grave. "You took forever to get those leeches. I was worried."

Guilt bubbled hotly but she shook her head, "For a moment, I thought I might have been gone longer, but I changed my mind. I just hope I'm not too late for him."

"I was counting. Provided we didn't screw up the estimation of when he was first poisoned, he should make it." Megan replied, lacing her fingers with Tess'. "You did good, Baby T. through this whole nightmare, you've been so brave."

"I'm not." Tess disagreed, closing her eyes, "I'm so scared. But I'm… I'm _trying_."

"I know." Megan's hand went up to her cheek, "you're doing so well." There was something in her voice that made Tess look up to meet her dark hazel eyes.

"Megan?"

"It's ok if I don't make it."

"Don't talk like that!"

"No, listen to me, Tess, if things go really bad, you have to promise to get yourself out." Megan said with a new strength to her voice, then switching back to speak with tenderness, "you've grown up so much. You are strong and smart and kind, even if you don't see it in yourself yet."

She knew, Tess thought, Megan knew the temptation that had shone before her, the choice she had made, because she was Megan Li, her brilliant, all-seeing best friend. It would forever be her albatross.

"And that guy, while he's not looking so good right now, is still pretty hot. You better keep in touch with him." Megan continued with a wink, a feeble attempt at the carefree, joking girl she was at Harvard, before all of this. Before the loss and fear had given her sparkling eyes a deep heaviness. "I love you, Tess. You're the greatest friend I've ever had." Megan kissed her cheek.

Tess fought the tears, knowing that maybe Megan was right, but she didn't want this to be their goodbye, in a tent on a deserted island, with the shadow of death and fear hanging over them. They had so many plans, they had dreams to achieve and the apartment they wanted to buy together, the husbands and the vow to be godmother to each others children. There was a future mapped out that didn't have anything in it they couldn't accomplish or experience without the other. Tess wasn't sure if she would ever see a tomorrow that didn't have Megan grinning back at her in it.

"I love you too. And _we are all_ going to make it off this island. I promise, Megan. I'm not going to leave you. So you never know - this guy might fall in love with _you_!"

Megan managed a smile, nodding along with Tess, and their tiny, intimate moment was broken by a low groan from the man on the table. Tess stood up, Megan's hand slowly slipping from hers as she went to his side. He was waking and as Tess watched his face shift and his sandy eyelids flutter open to reveal beautiful soft, chocolate eyes. She felt her heart skip a beat and mentally agreed with Megan – he was gorgeous. She could see herself mirrored in his eyes, she could hear Marcos cursing the engine on the boat and Megan's rattling breath. He was alive. She would get them out this mess.

Tess leant down, "Hey! Can you hear me?"

_Fin _


End file.
